FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ESL INVESTMENTS - PAGE 2

Sears Holdings Corp. said it plans to spin off Orchard Supply Hardware Stores into a standalone company in a move that would give billionaire investor Edward Lampert a big stake in the California hardware chain. Sears said the separation will allow each company to better focus on its own strategy. The Hoffman Estates-based retailer bought Orchard Supply in 1996 before Lampert took over the company and combined it with Kmart in March 2005. One of Lampert's first moves as Sears' chairman was to sell a 20 percent stake in Orchard Supply to private equity firm Ares Management LLC in May 2005 and announce that Sears was considering selling or taking it public.

Edward Lampert, the billionaire hedge fund manager known for making large bets on a few companies, including Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp., has turned his attention to Citigroup Inc., the nation's largest bank. ESL Investments Inc., his Connecticut-based hedge fund, acquired 15.2 million shares worth $783 million as of March 31, according to a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hedge fund also held 925,000 shares of Motorola Inc. worth $16.3 million and 881,000 shares of Clear Channel Communications Inc. worth $30.1 million, both as of March 31. ESL has been building its stake in Citigroup for at least a year but delayed disclosing the position until Tuesday.

Billionaire Edward Lampert, the chairman of Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. who made his fortune by investing in beaten-down retail stocks, bought a $485 million stake in Home Depot Inc. in the third quarter. ESL Investments Inc., the Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund run by Lampert, held 16.7 million Home Depot shares as of Sept. 30, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hedge fund didn't report owning any shares in the Atlanta-based company, the world's largest home-improvement retailer, as of June 30. Lampert engineered Kmart Corp.

Sears Chairman and CEO Edward Lampert has reduced his stake in The Gap Inc., according to security filings. Lampert shed roughly 4 percent of his shares in the San Francisco-based retailer by Dec. 31, 2012, according to documents filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He currently holds 25.3 million shares, personally and through his investment groups, ESL Partners, RBS Partners, LP and ESL Investments. In 2012, Lampert reported that he held a 9.3 percent stake or 45.2 million shares.

Vornado Realty Trust's unexpected disclosure that it had acquired a significant stake in Sears, Roebuck and Co. may have kick-started investor Edward Lampert's plan to merge the company with his Kmart Holding Corp. "Vornado's purchase stimulated activity on the part of Eddie Lampert and Kmart, bringing to a head what might have otherwise been a longer-term plan," speculated Marshall Eisenberg, a partner in Chicago law firm Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP. The merger talks began after Sears earlier this year agreed to buy 50 Kmart stores, Sears Chairman and Chief Executive Alan Lacy said during a news conference Wednesday.

An investor tied to both Sears, Roebuck and Co. and rival Kmart Holding Corp. may move to significantly increase his stake in Sears and possibly propose to merge the two struggling companies, a key source close to the negotiations said late Tuesday. An announcement is expected from the retailers as early as Wednesday, the source said. Widely-known investor Edward Lampert, the chairman of Kmart, who took the company out of bankruptcy and whose investment company, ESL Investments, now owns a 52.6 percent stake, holds roughly 14.6 percent of Sears' stock through his Greenwich-based investment company.

By David Greising, Tribune chief business correspondent | September 10, 2005

When hedge fund investor Edward Lampert decided to take over operating control of Sears Holdings Corp. on Thursday, he sent a clear signal that he feels he can do a better job than professional managers. It is a decision fraught with risk: a financial investor who has never served as a corporate executive before taking control of one of the nation's biggest and most troubled department store chains. This sort of coup by bankroll happens rarely in business, and for good reason: It usually doesn't work.

Shoppers vote with their dollars. So do investors. But a poor retail performance last year didn't discourage two of Sears Holdings Corp.'s largest investors from increasing their stakes in the retail company. Atticus Capital LP, a New York hedge fund, raised its investment in Sears to 10.8 million shares, or 6.7 percent of the shares outstanding, as of Dec. 31, according to a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That investment is worth more than $1.3 billion based on Sears' closing price of $121.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. stock rose 5.5 percent Tuesday on speculation that the Hoffman Estates department store chain might buy some stores from or even invest in Kmart Holding Corp., which saw its shares climb nearly 7 percent. The buzz behind the stock run-ups of the two retailers is largely due to the recently announced sale of as many as 24 Kmart stores to Home Depot for about $365 million, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst for Jefferies & Co. in Boston. "There are several different levels to the chatter, like Sears may purchase some interest in Kmart or purchase [stores]

Picture this: A national chain of framing shops with Chicago roots now has presidential connections. The Great Frame Up was founded in Chicago in 1971, but has been owned by Houston-based Franchise Concepts Inc. since 1998. Now Franchise Concepts has a new owner, a group that includes a St. Louis Great Frame Up franchisee as well as St. Louis investment house Bush O'Donnell Capital Partners. That's Bush as in William Bush--whose nephew is President George W. Bush. Uncle's newest investment encompasses 152 Great Frame Up franchises and 122 Deck the Walls stores in more than 30 states, as well as 51 Framing & Art Centre shops in Canada.